WOPHA Congress 2024 : Maggie Steber

Four sisters take a nap on Sunday afternoon after church. They are the daughters of Mia Dennis who with her mother was evicted from their home due to a misunderstanding with the bank. Through the help of an organization called Take Back the Land, the family was able to move back into their home. The children are Alexi, Connie, Amelia and Frederika. © Maggie Steber

Byron Billie and Jojo Dakota Osceola are full-blooded from the Everglades. After winning awards for native costume at a Seminole cultural fair in Davie, Florida they changed intotypical teen garb. Byron says: “I most definitely identify more with my Indian Heritage.” Jojo hopes to become an attorney specializing in Indian law. © Maggie Steber

Cuban Elly Choval swms daily in the waters off Key Biscayne that move between Miami, her current home, and Cuba, the land of her birth. She vowed not to return to Cuba until Fidel Castro died so to remain attached to her homeland, Elly swam in what she called a sea of memories because the waters that lapped the shores of Miami also lapped the shores of Cuba. © Maggie Steber

Facing Change by Prestel Publishers in association with the Library of Congress. March 2013 Artwork Description: Friday nights Haitian musicians gather on a local street corner in Little Haiti and play their traditional Africa-inspired instruments at the start of a Rara. Rara is a Haitian festival, music genre, religious ritual, dance and political protest celebration throughout Haiti and in Little Haiti by Haitian immigrants. It stems from grassroots protests that originated in Haiti during slavery times. The Rara is a street partywhich winds their way through the streets of Little Haiti gathering people into a group for dancing and singing. © Maggie Steber

Facing Change by Prestel Publishers in association with the Library of Congress, March, 2013 Artwork Description (caption) Older Haitians who never learned to write Creole in as they grew up in Haiti attend literacy writing classes weekday mornings at the Pierre Toussaint Leadership and Learning Center located at Notre Dame D’Haiti Catholic Church in Little Haiti. © Maggie Steber

Senior citizens gather in a line dance at the North Miami Beach bandshell on Collins Avenue. Ida Klaus, the woman in pink, could be what the Barbie Doll would look like when she gets older. Very pretty. Displanced by a growing younger population, retirees who wonce flocked to Greater Miami are scattering elsewhere in south Florida but some decide to stay because they like to be around younger people. © Maggie Steber

Neither the homeless man pushing his cart of possessions behind them nor a jitney bus in flames (not seen in photo) before them seem so odd to brothers Manuel and Ruben Rodriguez and their little cat. They see the live street theater of Biscayne Boulevard daily. The city’s larger drama takes its plot from ethnic conflicts stirred by three decades of relentless immigration from Latin America and the Caribbean. © Maggie Steber

Three months after arriving from Cuba by raft, Ahmed Elmuza had a restaurant job, an apartment, and a car, thanks to help from established Cuban exiles. He serves a meal at Versailles Restaurant, a popular eating place in Little Havana and a gathering place where Cubans hold political meetings. © Maggie Steber

Cuban woman is comforted by a Cuba leader in remembrance of the death when her dead son’t name was read out loud. Bay of Pigs was an attempt by Cubans to overthrow Fidel Castro. The attempt failed after the US CIA failed to back the Cubans. Each year there is a gathering at the memorial set up on Calle Ocho. © Maggie Steber

A night time storm approaches from the ocean makes the palm trees sway in South Beach on Miami Beach, Fl. In the background lightening strikes over the ocean. © Maggie Steber

In the U.S. people celebrate sweet 16 parties but Ayanidys Martinez wanted a quince party. She opens one of her presents given to her by her boyfriend at a lavish 15th birthday party that was once and is still customary in Cuba. Cubans still celebrate this important mark in a young woman’s life throughout Miami. © Maggie Steber

Haitian woman prays during evening mass at Notre Dame d’Haiti Catholic Church in the heart of Little Haiti. The church is the heartbeat of the Haitian community in Little Haiti and one of the most important institutions which lends support, education, health care services and a joyful and meaningful spiritual life. Religion has always bee the mainstay of Haitian lives. Masses are held throughout the week and several times on Sunday in the Creole language of Haiti. © Maggie Steber

At the Miami, FL. studios of Spanish-Language telveision Telemundo, actors from the Telenovela “Mas Sabe el Diable”, film a segment about the upcoming census to let Hispanics know why they should be counted.Soap opera star Michelle Vaargas has her makeup touched up before taping of the scene. © Maggie Steber

Awestruck young boy grabs the hand of a U.S. soldier during a welcome home parade In downtown Miami in 1991, shortly after the Gulf War when the U.S. fought against Iraq for its invasion of Kuwait. © Maggie Steber

Each year Sister Mickens, a member of the Black Baptist Church in Coral Gables, invites ladies from the church to her home to try on Easter hats for the upcoming celebration. © Maggie Steber